Taiwan conducts major annual military exercise amid rising China tensions

The reunification remains a priority for Beijing, said Veerle Nouwens​, a research fellow in the Asia-Pacific region at the Royal United Services Institute, a defense think tank. "China has continued to exercise at sea and in the air in the South China Sea and around Taiwan," Nouwens​ said. "This is not particularly new but takes place in a wider context of increasing Chinese assertiveness on its borders and in the surrounding region."